


Gestures

by lvcoloredmagic



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: POV Second Person, Spoilers - Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 05:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5035321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lvcoloredmagic/pseuds/lvcoloredmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the barrier is opened and everyone goes free, you should be happy. And yet, something still seems wrong...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gestures

**Author's Note:**

> i want to hug asriel. forgive me for writing a trillion happy asriel stories.
> 
> this frisk has anxiety-linked mutism (selective mutism) and has been working on getting past it for a while but still has trouble sometimes.

“Frisk, dear! Where are you going?”

You turn around, still pulling on the sleeve of your jacket, and mouth “Underland”. Toriel frowns.

“Again?”

You nod. Your fall into the underground changed everything for you; it’s only reasonable that you became attached to it, despite everything. Toriel seems to understand this, because she just sighs.

“Alright, but be careful, dear. I have my phone, call me if you need anything. Here, take a snack just in case.” She shoves a small plastic container at you, and you accept, stowing it in your backpack. Toriel presses a kiss to your hair, then pats your shoulder. “Have fun.”

You smile and step outside into the cool autumn air. Outside the house, your bicycle sits chained to a rail, and you quickly unlock it, throwing a leg over and standing on the pedals. It only takes you a few moments to get going, and then you speed off, standing on your bike and relishing the feeling of the wind whipping your hair around.

The ride to Mount Ebott takes you a good forty-five minutes, but you barely slow down, determined to reach it before it starts getting dark out. When you finally get there, you lean your bike against a rock and climb down the rope you placed here a while ago, for this exact reason. Once you reach the bottom and step down cautiously onto the plot of golden flowers, you hear a voice.

“You’re back.”

You turn and smile. Flowey frowns.

“Why do you keep coming back here? I thought you were oh-so determined to leave.”

A shrug makes their frown deepen. “Answer me! Why are you here??”

You watch them for a moment, then gather up your composure to speak. “I came to see you.”

Flowey’s expression changes rapidly from anger to confusion to vulnerable fear. “Why? After everything I did to you?”

“You shouldn’t be alone.”

Flowey stares at you. “Why do you care so much? Don’t you know it’ll just end with you getting hurt?”

You shrug once more.

“You’re really a strange human, Frisk. I don’t know why I ever thought you were Chara. You’re nothing like them, are you?”

You sit down crosslegged on the ground and reach into your backpack, pulling out a book.

“What’s that?” They sound suspicious.

You hold it up for Flowey to see, and their frown returns in full force.

“You can’t change me, you know. I will never be a friend, and I will never be able to feel anything for you. You should just give up now. You can’t make me love.”

You just smile and open up the book to the first page, slowly reading the lines aloud. Flowey tries to argue with you some more, but then falls silent and listens to the story. You count this as a win.

*

“Back again, Frisky Frisk? What absurd gestures of friendship do you have for me today?”

You set your backpack on the ground and pull out a container of butterscotch pie, opening it up.

“Okay, I know you’re not exactly the brightest, but you do realize I’m a flower, right? I’m literally a flower. I can’t eat.”

“Have you tried?”

“What? Of course I-” Flowey grumbles. “Fine. Give me the pie.”

You push the container over to them, and they glare at you. “No hands, remember, genius? Feed me.”

You figured as much. You pull a plastic fork out and scoop a little bit of the pie onto it, holding it up for Flowey. They… eat it? You think? You’re not sure how this works, and you don’t plan on questioning it.

“Um, hello? Give me more.”

You comply, smiling all the while. When they finish, Flowey falls quiet.

“Did M-- Toriel make it?”

You nod.

“Thought so.”

Silence.

“...Thanks.”

You mouth “you’re welcome” and gather your things before returning to the rope and hoisting yourself up. Flowey watches you as you leave.

*

You slide down the rope, your hands safely covered in thick gloves, and land agilely in the underground. As you expected, Flowey is there, waiting for you.

“What fresh hell have you come to unleash upon me tonight? Games? More books? Books about games?”

You sit down beside them, leaning against a stone wall and closing your eyes.

“Wait. What are you doing?”

You keep your eyes closed, a small smile on your face.

“Human! Answer me! What are you doing?”

You peek open one eye and gaze upon the flower for a bit. When Flowey notices that you’re watching, they clear their expression with haste. You hum a little tune you heard during your journey and close your eyes once more.

“What’s that?”

You hum louder.

“Why are you doing this?”

You transition from humming to soft las.

“Are you singing? Seriously?”

You nod, not letting the tune fall.

Flowey is quiet. Then, “What even is that?”

You stand up and start walking toward the rest of the ruins. You know they’ll follow.

It takes you a while to reach Waterfall, but finally you find what you’re looking for: a piano, a statue, an umbrella. You set the umbrella over the statue and a music box chimes gently from within, filling the corridor with song. When you turn around, Flowey is watching you from a distance. You gesture for them to come closer, and you think they may have sworn at you in response. Oh well.

You wander over to the piano room and rest your fingers on the keys. The door is long since open, but that doesn’t matter. You’re not playing to achieve anything in particular, you’re just doing it because it’s serene. A rare tranquility in what was once a crowded, afflicted place. This was one of the parts of your journey that stuck with you the most: a music box echoing down a stone hall, the dripping sound of water audible behind the walls. An ancient piano for you to play along.

You hear a movement behind you and turn to find that Flowey has appeared, rooted in a crack in the stone floor, watching you play. You don’t stop the familiar movements; you keep playing and harmonizing.

For a second, you could almost swear you hear Flowey humming along.

*

You’re having trouble talking today, your voice just beyond your control, your composure not quite there. But, you go to the underland all the same, because you have made a promise. Not to anyone in particular, but one nonetheless.

“Asriel,” is all you can manage when you climb down the rope and see Flowey waiting for you, glaring.

“That’s not my name anymore and you know it.”

You shake your head and point at them.

“What? Tem got your tongue?”

You frown. Perhaps this was a mistake. You stand up and turn to walk away, but a voice stops you.

“Hey! Wait. Don’t go yet.”

You glance back over your shoulder, a question on your face.

“Look, it’s just. I’m bored. I might as well entertain you to pass the time.”

You almost laugh at that. All this time, you’ve been trying to just make their existence down here a little less lonesome, and they’re saying they’re entertaining you? You smile, and Flowey’s frown deepens.

“What, something funny?”

You shake your head dismissively. It’s not important, anyway. You pull a notebook out of your pack and sit down.

“Are you going to draw me a picture? I’m touched.”

You scribble on the pad and show it to them. _I’m not talking today. Hi._

“You’re not what? Okay, have fun with that.”

_Do you know why I keep coming here?_

“To torture me?”

_I know what it’s like to be alone. It was even harder to talk when I was younger, and so I had no friends. My family thought I was broken. I came to the mountain to get away, only to fall down into an entirely different world. Good things can come from anything, right? Even the bad._

“Why are you telling me all this? What’s the point?”

_When you took everyone’s souls, you got your own compassion back. It was a terrible thing, but something good came out of it, right? You got to be yourself again, even if it was just for a little bit. I’ve been thinking, you know, what if that wasn’t temporary?_

“I’m literally empty. Nice try.”

_You have a mind and emotions. You feel anger and boredom and fear. You can’t be completely empty._

“Unless you have a convenient soul for me, you’re out of luck. Are you offering or something?”

_What about Chara?_

Flowey freezes. “What about them?”

_What happened to their soul after you died?_

“Hell if I know.”

_I think, in another timeline, Chara made things go differently. You’re Flowey, and you’re Asriel, but what if you were also them? What does that mean?_

“Okay! I’ve officially run out of patience for this. Bye.”

You grab Flowey by the stem before they can go, and they make a noise that you can only describe as horrifying. You’re not phased.

_You got your compassion back after absorbing everyone’s souls, but it didn’t go away after you gave them all back, you still had it for a while. That was their influence. I think you’ve had Chara’s soul in you for a long time, too, but not anymore. If the influence from everyone else is what gave you your compassion, what did Chara’s soul do to you? Is that what gave you such a horrible view of the world? I know what you told me, but._

“Are you trying to say that I have somehow regained that elusive emotion, and didn't even notice? It's a miracle."

_Yeah, pretty much. You’ve been putting up with me for so long when you could have killed me, so why?_

“I’m bored! You’re the only interesting thing that ever happens now that all the monsters left!”

_Come with me to the surface._

“No.”

_But,_

Before you can react, Flowey is gone.

You sigh, get your backpack, and begin the climb back up the rope to the surface.

*

Flowey isn’t there the next time you go to the underland.

Or the next.

Or the next.

You spend your visits wandering around, memories haunting you as you retrace your steps. Everything is silent, and you have to remind yourself that they’re just all on the surface now, they’re not gone. Sometimes, it feels like it’s been an eternity since you fell down.

You’re lying in the snow, staring up at the cavern’s ceiling when you hear a familiar voice.

“I thought about what you said.”

You sit up and look to see Flowey. You wave at them.

“I’m still a flower. I don’t have the power to not be a flower. Give me a way to be myself again, and I’ll come with you.”

You pull out your notepad. You’ve thought about this at length.

_Alphys can make you a body, but I think you need a soul for that to work._

“Make her do it.”

_Are you su_

“Just. Do it. Then come back here. Bring her with you if you must.”

You stand up and nod. You’re a little suspicious, but you’ll do it. You want to help.

*

“F-Frisk? Are you sure this is a good idea?”

You smile and nod, giving a little thumbs up. Alphys is reassured, but only a little.

“Tell them, tell them this is just a temporary solution, I can make a better one. Um.”

You know she’s afraid. You told them about what happened (well, most of it) and now they all know about Flowey. You can understand her fear.

You reach Snowdin and find that Flowey is waiting in the spot where you had been laying weeks ago.

“Did you do it?”

You nod, and gesture over at Alphys, who is attempting to hide both herself and the robot behind you.

There’s a question in your face, and Flowey answers. “The human souls, remember? After I let all the souls go, they had nowhere to return to. They’re just here, unable to go home. I talked to them, and they didn’t trust me, but one of them agreed to help. If I have a human soul, I can be myself again, I can have compassion again, but it’s not enough to reform my old body. So I need something other than a flower to live in.”

You smile. “Asriel.”

“Almost.”

There’s a flash of light, blinding you temporarily, and when your vision clears, you see that the robotic body that Alphys made is moving subtly. A mechanical voice speaks.

“Oh, it’s so nice to have hands again.” The robot carefully reaches down, gathers up a wad of snow, and throws it directly into your face. You sputter, and Alphys tries (and fails) to stifle her laughter.

You wipe your face on your shirt and look to see Asriel, in his new body, watching you. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. There’s just all this snow, and snow is for throwing, right?”

You laugh. Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that Asriel was just a kid when he died. Just a kid like you. Now, he has a chance to live fully again.

Together, the three of you make your way back to the surface, and you feel like everything is finally right.


End file.
